kahunamatata’s posterous

I received a strange email today. I'm compelled to share this in its entirety because it brought me to tears. I honestly don't remember the person who sent this note, but there is an important lesson here:

***
So, this is gonna be your wierd email of the week!
I used to be in your Girl Scout troop in Aurora. Not sure what grade, sixth maybe? Anyhow, I wanted to take a moment to aplolgize for being mean to you all those years ago. I had no reason to pick on you, as you were perfectly nice to me. I was an "outsider" and have come to see that I found kids that were more outside than I was and hasstled them.
I realized years ago from a TV show what had been going on in your family while I was spreading my adolescent "sunshine" all over you. You had enough to deal with and certainly didn't need more crap for me!
Please accept my apololgies and my congratulations on how you have succeeded and used your expereice to help others. I really am sorry that I vicitimzed you.
***

Growing up, I do remember being brutalized by my peers growing up for things beyond my control. Years ago, I met songwriter Mark Wills, who wrote the song "Don't Laugh At Me," which noted:

"I'm fat, I'm thin, I'm short, I'm tall
I'm deaf, I'm blind, hey, aren't we all

Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me"

How can we stop bullying behaviors? As a teacher, I often watched kids being brutalized for all manner of things and was glad when I could stop the harassment, even if only in that moment. But even in the workplace, people still resort to bullying behavior and it's not acceptable.

I remain committed to understanding why people resort to these actions. While I'm not sure it's possible to entirely eliminate such hurtful and hateful actions, as we come to understand one another, we will see that we are not different: We all have a need to be honored and recognized for the things that make us unique.

Malama pono e Aloha 'oe,
Laurie

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